america's cable companies created c-span as a public service, a private business initiative. no government mandate, no government money. >> now a discussion on the role of states in emergency management. we'll hear from the president of the national emergency management association, which represents officials from all 50 states. this event from the heritage foundation in washington is just over an hour. >> good afternoon. my name is eric weiss and i'm the program director for lectures at the foundation. i welcome those who are joining us. for viewers, questions can be submitted addressing to emails at speaker@heritage.org. if you would please make a final check that your cell phones and other electronics are off as they will interfere with our recording devices. for further reference this program will be posted within 24 hours on our heritage.org events page. hosting our program today is matt mayor who is a visiting fellow for homeland security and states project. he's also an adjunct professor at ohio state university. he's the author of the book "homeland security and feder